LAGERFELD'S HIGH STREET SPLIT

** KARL LAGERFELD ** has said that he will never work with H&M again, despite the success of his creations this season. Accusing the Swedish retailer of "snobbery" for producing minimal numbers of his designs, which sold out in a matter of hours when they went on sale in 20 stores across Europe last Friday, he said it had defeated his intention of making clothes available to the thousands of people who could not afford to shop at Lagerfeld Gallery, Chanel or Fendi.. "It was great to work with the people at H&M as we all helped each other to make it a success," he told German magazine Stern magazine. "But the incomprehensible decisions of the management in Stockholm have taken away any desire to do it again. They did not make the clothes in sufficient quantities. I find it embarrassing that H&M let down so many people… I don't think that is very kind, especially for people in small towns and countries in eastern Europe. It is snobbery created by anti-snobbery." Lagerfeld was also offended by the chain's decision to produce the clothes in larger sizes than he had envisaged. "What I designed was fashion for slender and slim people," said the designer who famously lost 42 kilograms two years ago. "That was the original idea." Amused by the fact that the Lagerfeld for H&M designs are already being bought for inflated prices on internet auction sites, the German designer said it was simply a sign of the times. "Everything goes," he said. (November 18 2004, AM)